A judge in Paris, France has asked medical experts to determine whether rock icon Johnny Hallyday was the victim of a "botched" operation that landed him in hospital with a severe infection.
The 66 year old left a Los Angeles medical centre on 23 December (09) after he underwent corrective surgery on his back to repair damage allegedly caused by a procedure to correct a herniated disc in Paris last month (Nov09).
Hallyday wrote a letter to the judge last week (begs21Dec09), stating: "I came very close to death. That is why I want to know the truth."
Now an infection specialist and a neurosurgeon will study Hallyday's medical records before making a decision in the case against Stephane Delajoux, who performed the initial operation.
Hallyday's lawyer Virginie Lapp says the rocker "believes that an important step has been taken to establish the truth following what he sees as a medical blunder of which he was the victim".
However, Delajoux's lawyer David Koubbi insists his client is not guilty of malpractice, and plans to file suit against Hallyday's publicist.
Koubbi adds, "We will now have the opinion of objective professionals and that is excellent."
The star's hospitalisation resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of his Route 66 tour on the advice of medics.